Okay, then, I’m confused — what exactly constitutes a flog? An item above refers to “retail fashion flogs” that are actually part of the retailers’ own websites… And it seems to me that a column that runs under neimanmarcus.com is even more identifiable as a corporate shill that one that runs under drlaundryblog.com, even if there is a small logo at the bottom.

Like what, FLConsumer? I still use chlorine bleach (although rarely, since I hardly ever have enough white stuff for a full load of laundry). I was only vaguely aware that there were alternatives, and I just assumed none of them worked worth a damn.

On another note, all scented products should be banned. God, I hate them so very much. They never do anything but induce allergic reactions in me.

You actually can’t use chlorine bleach in most European washers. They almost always have stainless steel inner tubs (not a huge problem here) AND stainless steel outer tubs (huge problem here). The chlorine causes pits in the stainless steel outer tub and eventually causes leaks.

As far as alternatives, there’s quite a few. For whites, you can’t beat heat. Literally. Truly hot water makes all the difference. For my nastiest stuff (labcoats,towels), I set the washer’s heater to 200F. I toss 1 tbsp of TideHE and 1 tbsp of sodium percarbonate in the main wash slot of the dispenser, just 1 tbsp of TideHE in the pre-wash slot, and a splash of distilled white vinegar into the fabric softener slot and walk away. 90 minutes later I have fresh clean clothes with no chemical or perfume odors to them. For items with elastic in them (or others which can’t take quite that bit of heat, like my socks & sheets), I use the same as above but only set the washer’s heater to ~140F. Most European washers have their own water heaters because they use so little water that the home’s hot water may not actually reach the washer by the time it’s full. Most Euro washers are front-loaders, which clean a heck of a lot better than the traditional American-style.

The sodium perchlorate definitely helps remove stains and keep things clean. Unless you royally abuse it (ie: black T-shirt, full cup of sodium perchlorate, ultra-hot water) colors will stay the same color. Something else to avoid, especially with darker colors, are detergents which use optical brighteners. These are dyes which are added to the detergents to make the whites seem brighter under ultraviolet light. Daylight, halogens lights, and fluorescent lights all put out bits of UV light. While this may make your whites LOOK whiter, it’ll make your colors look faded. Try to find a detergent which doesn’t use these, especially for your darks. The aforementioned TideHE DOES contain brighteners, which is why I only use it on whites/light colors.

I always wear socks. Even wear them outside to the mailbox at times. No visible color difference between the ones I’m about to throw out with holes in them and the brand new packages I bought.

I’ve never heard of this TideHE. I’ve recently used a front-loading machine and I had to put my clothes again through my regular washer because they still looked a little dirty. I don’t think I’ve ever seen sodium perchlorate sold retail, but then it might be I just haven’t seen it.

It looks like the same goes for the Clorox High Efficiency Bleach: it has half the “bleach” (hypochlorite) as regular bleach. If you want to know what is in pretty much any cleaner just look up it MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet). All the Clorox products are provide by the manufacturue at http://www.thecloroxcompany.com/testfiles/index.html#Bleach